I will accept if people wants Anwar as PM – Tun M

PUTRAJAYA: Tun Dr Mahathir said he is willing to accept Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as the Prime Minister if that is the wish of the people.

“Yes, if that is what people want, why not,” he told the press at the Perdana Leadership Foundation here on Tuesday.

His statement came days after he denied backing Anwar as a possible prime ministerial candidate as reported in an article in the British daily, The Guardian.

He had said that Anwar could not become the next prime minister as he needed to be released from jail first.

During their 1998 falling-out, Dr Mahathir had also called Anwar, then his deputy prime minister, “unfit” to become the prime minister amidst the sodomy charges against the latter.

Asked whether he still stood by his statement now, Dr Mahathir said, “I stand by my statement at that time. It depended on the circumstances prevailing at the time, I might change my mind again next year. You just wait.”

On the appointment of a candidate for the Prime Minister’s post, Dr Mahathir said he wanted to keep the element of surprise as this was part of the election strategy.

“We will announce the name at a proper time. It can be now, it can be before the election, or immediately after we win the election,” he said. – The Star –